As much of the northeastern and mid-Atlantic areas of the US experienced scorching heat this weekend, coastal Southern California was comfortably cool, thanks to our seasonal "June Gloom." The gray clouds usually move out by early afternoon but that morning cloud cover keeps our afternoon temperatures down. Today's expected to be especially gloomy, even offering the opportunity of light drizzle. I'm not holding my breath over the prospect of real rain but even the high humidity that accompanies our June Gloom often causes the roof to shed some moisture into my rain barrels, which is always welcome.
![]() |
| View looking toward Angel's Gate, the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles, from my backyard late Sunday afternoon |
My garden is slowly shifting from its cool season mode to its warm-hot season mode in anticipation of summer. My cool season annuals are dying off quickly while many of my summer-flowering plants have been slow to get started but there's still plenty of color to be found. The inspiration for my first vase this week was three gladiola stalks that surprised me with blooms in my cutting garden. I thought I'd dug all the gladiola corms out of my raised planters last fall but apparently I missed a few.
![]() |
| I recently planted a package of orange gladiola corms and I have another collection yet to plant but the early arrivals of the dramatic purple Gladiolus 'Vuvuzela' were appreciated |
![]() |
| Back view: As usual, I picked more than I actually needed to fill my vase, much of which got stuffed to the rear of the arrangement |
![]() |
| Top view |
![]() |
| Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga Lily), Coriandrum sativum (aka cilantro/coriander, which is popping up all over my garden), Gladilous 'Vuvuzela', white and lavender Consolida ajacis (aka larkspur), Penstemon digitalis 'Onyx & Pearls', and Nigella 'African Bride' |
My second arrangement was inspired by the first flush of blooms on the tree-sized Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' in my back border.
![]() |
| The appearance of a few short stems of Digitalis 'Dalmatian Peach' in my cutting garden sealed the peachy-orange color scheme. I couldn't help myself from cutting one stem of Leucospermum 'Brandi' as it's nearing the end of its season and as the squirrels polished off the majority of Leucospermum 'Goldie'. |
![]() |
| Back view: The foliage of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' picked up the raspberry undertones evident in some of the flowers |
![]() |
| Top view |
![]() |
| Clockwise from the upper left: Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Peach', Grevillia 'Peaches & Cream', G. 'Superb', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', and Leucospermum 'Brandi' |
With the usual touch of sadness, on Saturday I tore out the sweet peas that occupied most of one raised planting bed in my cutting garden. It always seems that they forever to grow from seed to flowering plants, only to be gone all too soon. I met three friends for lunch (at a restaurant!) last Friday and I'd hoped to bring each one a small bouquet of sweet peas but there weren't enough presentable flowers left to do that.
![]() |
| I managed a small vase for the kitchen island and my office from what was left. The very short stems came from Lathyrus odoratus 'Sir Jimmy Shand','Blue Shift', and 'High Scent'. |
For more IAVOM creations, check in with our host, Cathy of Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
